REDLANDS - A stretch of road where three people were killed and six others were injured Thursday in a head-on collision has a history of accidents.

Between 2008 and 2012, 45 accidents were reported on Orange Road just south of the Santa Ana Wash, with two fatalities and many with injuries, according to the Redlands Police Department.

Residents and business operators in the area say they are concerned that similar accidents could occur in the near future if nothing is done.

Members of the City Council said Saturday they are not aware of any complaints about the stretch of road, but Mayor Pro Tem Paul Foster said if complaints are made, the Police Department will look into the issue and see if there are ways to improve safety there.

"And if there is, (the city) will take it into consideration," he said.

For several hours after the Thursday accident, employees of the Redlands Shooting Park had to stay on site as authorities investigated the crash.

Police closed Orange Road from Greenspot Road to Pioneer Avenue from around the time the crash was reported at 9:30 a.m. to about 4:45 p.m. to conduct the investigation.

Allison Bilbey, the daughter of the owners and operators of Redlands Shooting Park, said accidents happen on the stretch of road almost every day.

"My parents have been shooting out here for 35 years, and they say they have seen hundreds of them," she said. "There needs to be caution lights (installed)."

Bilbey said she and shop employees heard the accident. An employee went to see what had happened, she said.

"He was the first one out there when the cops arrived. It was pretty bad," she said.

One man, who lives near the crash site and asked not to be identified, said the area, which has a speed limit of 50 mph - has accidents often, most of them as a result of people speeding.

Mayor Pete Aguilar said Saturday he could not remember any complaints since he has been on the council.

But complaints would not be ignored, he added.

"We're happy to take a look at it from an engineering standpoint, especially to a street that is traveled significantly sometimes at high speeds," he said.

Personnel from the Redlands Fire and Police departments, as well as Cal Fire in Highland, responded to the fatal crash.

The accident happened when a driver of a Chevy Safari van, who was heading south on Orange, crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and struck a Toyota Sienna minivan containing eight people, authorities said. There were no passengers in the Chevy.

The three people who died - whom authorities believe to be a 19-year-old Redlands man, a 33-year-old man from Highland and a 58-year-old Redlands woman - were riding in the minivan.

The six injured - all male - were taken to hospitals in five ambulances, authorities said.

Six of the eight riding in the minivan were not wearing a seat belt and were thrown toward the front of the vehicle, authorities said.

Anyone with additional information on the crash is asked to contact Redlands police dispatch at 909-798-7681.

Anonymous information can be sent by texting 274637 using the keyword "REDTIP."